The symmetry at the Los Angeles Coliseum was perfect. Notre Dame had started the season unranked and slowly climbed, never losing on the way to reaching No. 1 just days earlier. Southern California had started out No. 1 and tumbled from the top 25 one loss at a time. They were playing a game that summed up the pointlessness of early-August predictions and the heartless beauty of college football in late November.

WSJ's Rachel Bachman says Notre Dame football detractorsmight have tough time making a convincing case against Notre Dame having a berth in the BCS title game.

The Trojans had a chance Saturday night in Los Angeles to dynamite Notre Dame's path to the Bowl Championship Series title game. Trailing by nine points just past midway in the fourth quarter, USC had the talent and the time to get two needed scores.

But the Trojans' penultimate drive in Notre Dame's 22-13 win summarized how each team could end up so differently. It showed why USC could never convert its potential to results on the way to a blah 7-5 record. And it confirmed that the 12-0 Fighting Irish deserve—sorry, haters—to reach the BCS championship game Jan. 7 in Miami, most likely against the winner of the Alabama-Georgia game for the Southeastern Conference championship next Saturday.

USC arrived in scoring position as it so often did this season, with a spectacular catch by sophomore receiver Marqise Lee—53 yards, to Notre Dame's 2-yard line. It was the night's biggest blow to the Irish's inexperienced secondary, a presumed weakness entering the season that has turned out to be a strength.

USC lined up with more than five minutes to go and a crucial touchdown two strides away. But several Trojans players moved: false start, minus-five yards. It was one of only three USC penalties for 15 yards on the day, but a painful symptom of a season spent among the nation's most-punished teams. (You'd think that by now the Trojans would be better at learning from penalties.)

On first and goal at the Notre Dame 7, USC's Curtis McNeal rushed for three yards. Then the Trojans got a break. On consecutive plays the Irish were called for pass interference, giving USC a first down at the Notre Dame 1 with more than four minutes left. This was it: the game on the line, a chance to ruin a rival's perfect record, the reason USC quarterback Matt Barkley returned amid great fanfare for his senior season.

But Barkley was on the sideline Saturday with a shoulder injury. And instead of moving with urgency the Trojans dallied as the clock ticked, like browsing SkyMall magazine as a plane's oxygen masks drop from the ceiling. Meanwhile Notre Dame's top-10-ranked defense dug in. USC tried a quarterback sneak with replacement Max Wittek but got nowhere. Next play, second and goal: Wittek again, no gain.

With 3:19 remaining, USC called timeout. On third and goal, the Trojans handed off to McNeal again and Notre Dame's safeties came off the edges and closed on him like the pincers on a spider. No gain. What's that saying about trying the same thing over and over but expecting a different result?

The clock slipped under three minutes. On fourth and goal at the 1, Wittek took the snap and looked to the end zone. He found fullback Soma Vainuku on the near edge but bounced a pass off the turf. End of drive.

The Trojans had hour-glassed away more than three minutes and a timeout with one measly yard to show for it. A year that began with praise for USC coach Lane Kiffin's management of the Trojans' NCAA probation ended with a growing dossier against him, with his management of this pivotal drive the latest file.

The Irish got some luck Saturday, certainly, as they did in their triple-overtime escape against middling Pittsburgh earlier this season. But they also got superb defensive play at critical times. They got the usual stellar game from linebacker Manti Te'o, who made his seventh interception of the season to halt a third-quarter USC drive and conclude a persuasive argument for the Heisman Trophy. They got sturdy leadership from Everett Golson, yet another redshirt freshman quarterback in a season flush with fantastic ones like Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel and Oregon's Marcus Mariota.

It's hard to argue even with saccharine proclamations like that of commentator Brent Musburger, who cooed, "Folks, the Fighting Irish are destiny's darlings."

It is a tall order for Notre Dame to unseat the SEC, the stubborn, six-years-running owner of the BCS title. But Saturday's goal-line stand against one of the nation's most talented teams showed the Irish are worthy. They deserve to be in on the postseason feast—even if they're the ones who end up on the platter.

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